Tea expert says boiling the kettle twice is a BIG no-no

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by Emma Dodds |
Published on

William Gorman, chairman of the Tea and Infusions Association, explains the science behind reboiling your kettle

As Brits, one element of our national identity is our love of tea.

It's hardly surprising since, according to the UK Tea and Infusions Association, 84% of our population drink a cup of tea every day. Can you believe that 165 million cups of tea are drank in the UK every day?

Yep, so can we.

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Brits LOVE a cuppa (Credit: Getty Images) ©Getty Images

Although most of us are united by our love of tea (apart from that small percentage of us that actually HATE tea - sorry everyone), how we take our tea is something of a contentious issue.

Are you a MIF (milk in first) or a TIF (tea in first)? Do you abhor tea without an accompanying biscuit or do you detest those who do?

Or do you boil the kettle twice?

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Biccies or no biccies? (Credit: Getty Images) ©Getty Images

According to tea expert William Gorman - yep, that's a thing - this is one of the WORST things you could EVER do.

Aside from the fact that it's a huge waste of energy, it actually ruins your cuppa.

GASP!

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Someone's got the posh set out (Credit: Getty Images) ©Getty Images

Mr Gorman, chairman at the Association, spoke to The Telegraph to explain his thoughts: "Usually when people's tea goes cold they reboil the kettle and make another cup. But doing this you are guaranteed to give yourself a dull cup of tea. You need freshly drawn water for a good cup because reboiling it takes out all the oxygen and nitrogen out of it."

Heck. A "dull" cup of tea sounds nothing short of a nightmare.

He then offered a solution to those who leave their cuppas around on tables and sideboards (we all know at LEAST one) - but it's VERY controversial.

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Ooh, a strainer! (Credit: Getty Images) ©Getty Images

He instructed: "A better solution is to put it in the microwave for 15 to 20 seconds. When you microwave tea all you're doing from a scientific point of view is just moving the molecules around and getting it back up to a decent temperature. It is not impacting the flavour at all."

GOODNESS GRACIOUS.

MICROWAVE a cup of tea? Absolutely not.

Although... He is an expert. Maybe we should try it?

Do you microwave your cuppas? Do you fall out with anyone in your house over your tea-making methods? Let us know over on Facebook and Twitter.

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